..... 28th July
- Tim Bonner to replace 'Barney' as Countryside Alliance CEO Bonner will take the helm
when current CEO Sir Barney White-Spunner steps down in September. Bonner has been their lead spokesman on hunting for some
years.

..... 27th July
- 3 Gloucs Hunts accused of illegal hunting, sett interference, breaching biosecurity Monitors
have produced written and video evidence against the Ledbury, the Ross Harriers and the Cotswold Vale Farmers Hunts, who all
operate within the Gloucs badger cull zone.

..... 23rd July
- E.Kent FH five have Hunting Act charges dropped by CPS
The offences, involving the killing of a fox by the pack, were clearly captured on film by sabs, buj, for unknown reasons
and eight months later the CPS decided to let the hunters off.

..... 23nd July
- Landowner acquitted of Hunt allegations after they invaded his property 'in frenzy'
A jury took just 45 minutes to throw out allegations of dangerous driving and assault against Jonathon Wright-Watson'.
His land was invaded by Dart Vale & S.Pool Harriers, in what he described as a 'frenzy'.

POWA utterly opposes the Government' attempts to amend the Hunting
Act via a Statuatory Instrument. This is just a cynical attempt to almost completely emasculate
the Act. They are only doing this because they realised they would likely lose
any attempt to fully repeal it. It is hard enough already to convict transgressive hunters,
but the added exemptions they intend to create will make it all but impossible - which is exactly what
they intend. It will effectively allow them to return to hunting as it was pre-ban
with no fear of prosecution. POWA is writing to MPs to explain this to them but
it will help if readers could do the same. Find your MP's email address via www.writetothem.com/ . The Commons vote was to be on Wednesday 15th July, but after the SNP decided to vote
against the SI a panicked government postponed it. However, they intend to
bring it back once they have got their plans for 'English votes for English
laws' though [they hope]. So it is vital to keep up the pressure on MPs.

POWA will resist any attempt to repeal the Hunting Act

TEN YEARS ON, Hunts still routinely bend and break the spirit and letter
of the Hunting Act, still chase and kill wild animals for fun, still bring terror and havoc to our countryside - and
almost always escape justice. The 'cynical subertfuge' the Judge scorned in dismissing the appeal by the
Fernie hunters in 2011 is the norm not the exception. It is a priority for POWA to support independent
monitors, who bravely seek to expose Hunt wrong doing and the weaknesses of the current legislation - at considerable expense
and risk to themselves. POWA utterly opposes any attempt to repeal the existing Hunting Act, but regards amendments
to strengthen it as essential if the obscenity of live quarry hunting with dogs for 'sport' is
to be properly punished and prevented.

POWA's main role is to campaign
for a complete, effective and enforceable ban on the hunting of wild animals with dogs in England and Wales. In May 2015 the
Conservatives won the general election. Despite 80% of the public wanting the Hunting Act retained, they have promised to
repeal it. POWA will strive every sinew to prevent this happening.

After ten overwhelming Commons'
votes, over seven years, in favour of a complete ban on hunting, the will of the people and their sovereign Parliament finally
overcame decades of resistance and mendacious propaganda from the rich and powerful bloodsports lobby and a largely compliant
media - democracy indeed!Regrettably, POWA believes that the Hunting
Act 2004 has manifest deficiencies which, in practice, make it of very limited utility in preventing organised Hunts
carrying on chasing and killing wild mammals for 'sport'. Hunts are able to do this by exploiting the numerous
loopholes and/or by pretending to be ‘trail hunting’ and ascribing any incident involving wild mammals as 'accidents'.
Monitoring reports countrywide appear to confirm that many, perhaps most hunts, engage in such behaviour.Nevertheless, the Act, so long and hard fought for, is a lot better than nothing - and of huge symbolic importance.
POWA therefore also campaigns against any attempt to further weaken or repeal the Act and to ensure, as far as possible, that
it is complied with in the hunting field and upheld through the courts.But - like its long-illegal fellow bloodsports, cock and dog fighting, bull and badger baiting - the hunting of
foxes, deer, hares and mink with packs of dogs must be consigned to the history books in practice, not just in theory.

The Hunting
Bill gained Royal Assent on 18-11-2004The Hunting Act 2004 came into
effect on 18-2-2005Full text of the Hunting Act 2004 isHERE

AT LAST! LACS AGREES NEED FOR HUNTING ACT STRENGTHENINGPOWA, which has strongly argued the case for strengthening for many years, is delighted that
the League has finally acknowledged that the Act must be significantly amended to ease enforcement and enhance deterrence.In a November 18th report on the tenth anniversary of the passing of the Hunting Act 2004, LACS stated that they would
now seek three major amendments:- a total ban on terrier work and digging-out, a 'recklessness' clause and provision
for a prison sentence of up to six months.POWA hopes that the RSPCA and IFAW will follow suit and that the leading anti-hunt
organisations will be able put our heads together to agree the details of the necessary amendments and to persuade,
at least, the Labour Party that they should be enacted. An outline of POWA's proposals for how the Hunting Act should
be amended can be seen here, and a narrative account of how Hunts currently are able to carry
on live quarry hunting with very little fear of sanction is here.

NOW
IFAW AGREES NEED FOR STRENGTHENING - RSPCA, WHAT'S KEEPING YOU?

In March 2014, IFAW monitors filmed the Cattistock FH chasing a fox. The CPS refused to prosecute,
so IFAW referred the matter to the RSPCA. They issued a summons against the Huntsman. In March 2015 [yes, a full year after
the alleged crime] RSPCA lawyers suddenly decided that there was 'no realistic prospect of a conviction'. The
Huntsman claimed they were 'trail hunting' and he'd no idea they were chasing a fox. The lawyers decided
they could not meet the onerous requirement to prove 'intent' on his part. However, the video published by IFAW suggests that hunters must have known that hounds were pursuing a fox, which at least one of them had clearly
seen on a road not long before - and hunters were quite close to the hounds. One has to wonder, if that evidence was not strong
enough to convict, what would be? IFAW, who had already described 'trail hunting' as 'an alibi for illegal
hunting' were so exasperated by the outcome that they announced they now believe that strengthening of the HA is essential.

POWA's message
about the need to strengthen the Hunting Act was warmly received and apparently understood by many delegates
at the Labour Party Conference in September. Amongst those to visit our stand
and express support were several members of Ed Milliband's Shadow Cabinet,
plus Shadow junior ministers, MPs, PPCs and other delegates. Visitors were able
to view the powerful new Campaign to Strengthen the Hunting Act [CSHA] video, at the content of which many
delegates, including some from the police, expressed shock and outrage. Our campaign is spreading
far and wide and gaining momentum. For Conference pics see theCSHA website.
The CSHA video is now on the website [and YouTube] and can be viewed here.

"It
is difficult to interpret
and apply and difficult for the CPS to prosecute."
Judge Daniel Curtis, of the Hunting
Act. He had to acquit members of the Holderness FH of illegal hunting because of insufficient
evidence of intent, August
2013. A resident's CCTV had shown their hounds chasing a bloodied fox
through his garden.

"It was totally and utterly barbaric and shocking."
Mick Heath,
the 'not anti-hunt' resident of Bradfield, North Essex,
after hounds of the Essex & Suffolk FH
chased a fox into his garden, savaged it and the Whipper-in then beat it to death
with a blunt object, leaving blood stains on
the patio - all in front of the whole family and a guest, on 10-12-11.
Police took no action against the Hunt.

“The
present situation is currently unsatisfactory. The volume of footage available (taken by hunt monitors) leaves
the objective viewer in no
doubt on the balance of probabilities that it is ‘business as
usual’ for many hunts because enforcement is so difficult... Such widespread and public disregard for the
law is likely to bring Parliament and the criminal justice system
into disrepute.”Stephen
Wooler, ex Chief Inspector of the CPS in his report
to RSPCA September 2014

"The
idea of trail hunting is either shambolic or a sham. You lay fox urine
to make the hounds able to fox
hunt and if you come across a fox on your way
you can then hunt it." CPS prosecutor at trial
of a JM, the Huntsman and the Kennel
Huntsman of the College Valley & N.Northumberland
FH, October 2014

Below, see how hunters change the beautiful,
sensitive, living creatures portrayed above - for 'sport'.

Now Cameron is seeking to reward his hunter friends by repealing the Hunting Act. Please support POWA's campaign
to save the Act, with a view to having it, one day, strengthened to give full protection to our persecuted wild
mammals.

'HUNTING ANARCHY' is a film made by independent monitors
a few years ago. It illustrates how hunts in the South Midlands are who they observed continued to chase foxes much as before
the ban - and were able to get away with it. Click START below to view the film.

Rescued by her 'Guardian angel' ! The moment a young vixen being attacked by the Old
Berks FH hounds is saved by a brave young female hunt monitor and POWA Associate, 14th November 2012 To see rescue video click here

MORE HUNT MONITORS WILL MEAN MORE HUNTERS IN COURTThe Heythrop FH - the P.M.'s own - are the latest to be
found guilty of illegal hunting, in what was the first ever prosecution of a Hunt as a Body Corporate, on 17/12/12. A former JM and
their ex-Huntsman also plead guilty, to four counts each, This followed convictions of the Senior JM and a terrierman of the Meynell and S.Staffs FH at Derby
Magistrates Court on 9/8/12. Several weeks earlier, two senior members of the Crawley & Horsham Hunt and their ex-Huntsman
were convicted for hunting foxes. In January 2011, the Huntsman and terrierman of the Fernie Hunt
were found guilty of illegal hunting, and their Appeal scornfully dismissed by the Judge in October.These hunts have been successfully prosecuted and convicted because
of the hunt monitors, who have captured film of their illegal activities, footage which has provided the evidence needed to
bring these people to justice. It is very encouraging that, at last, the sterling efforts of the monitors are beginning to
show results in the Courts. But most hunts are never visited by monitors. More monitors would mean more convictions.POWA strongly supports the work of the monitors, and we suggest that there are some
people who may now feel they want to join a monitoring group and keep up the momentum against the hunts. If you want to become
a monitor, or talk to a monitor for advice, please email POWA - via the contact button to the left of this article
- and we will refer your query to someone in your area.

AS THE RAIN LASHES DOWN, POWA ASSOCIATES
ARE SHOWERED WITH AWARDS

FEBRUARY
2014 - POWA congratulates the Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire Monitoring Group who have been given the Special Investigation
Award by the RSPCA for gathering the huge amount of video evidence that resulted in the prosecution and conviction of the
Heythrop Hunt, often while being obstructed, abused and assaulted by hunt followers. Most of the monitors, who operate
independently, are also POWA Associates. POWA also congratulates its Associate John Bryant, a former CEO of LACS and
twice an RSPCA Council Member, who has been awarded the Queen Victoria Gold Medal for services to the Society. The awards
will be presented at a ceremony in Whitehall on 1st March.

SIR
PATRICK STEWART BECOMES AN HONORARY ASSOCIATE OF POWA

The renowned actor, who narrated the revised version of the anti-hunting film 'A Minority Pastime', provided this statement:-

"I am delighted to accept the invitation to become an Honorary Associate of Protect Our Wild Animals.
I am strongly opposed to the cruel and barbaric 'sport' of hunting wild animals with dogs and was delighted when this
was banned in England and Wales in 2004.However, it appears that both the spirit and letter of the law
continue to be flouted by some organised Hunts. I fully endorse POWA's efforts to expose such activities and
in campaigning for the Hunting Act to be strengthened in order to make the law both more of a deterrent and easier to enforce."

Fulsome congratulations to the incredibly dedicated team of hunt monitors [many of
whom are also POWA Associates] whose evidence, on December 17th 2012, led to the convictions of the Heythrop Hunt, a former
JM and its ex-Huntsman on 4 charges each of illegal hunting. They had taken similar evidence of illegal hunting by the Heythrop
and other local Hunts to the police 30 times before in recent years, and either been fobbed off each time or found the CPS
making excuses for not getting the cases to court. So, many thanks to the RSPCA, under their CEO Gavin Grant, for
their courage in taking on the prosecution of this rich and powerful Hunt and for the Society's unflinching
stance in response to the vitriol since heaped upon it by the pro-hunt lobby.The monitors have also had to bear repeated
assaults, threats, harassment, vile abuse, obstruction and property damage from Heythrop riders and followers, 14 of
whom have been convicted or cautioned for such offences in the last six years. Monitoring is not just a very trying, emotionally
draining, time-consuming and dangerous business - it is expensive. POWA assists the monitors when it can, but has limited
resources itself. You can help enable the monitors carry on their work of exposing and bringing these flagrant animal
abusers to justice by giving to POWA, using the 'Donate'button [left].

PETER BUNCE R.I.P.

We
greatly regret the sad and untimely death in July 2014 of Peter Bunce, one of POWA's founders.Below is a selection
of tributes paid to him by fellow POWA Associates.

Penny Little - "Peter
was my very good friend. I first met him in the early '90s when he became involved in the campaign to ban
hunting.... Peter
was kind, humorous and principled. He was a good listener, he cared about the underdog, and he would always help anyone
who was in trouble. He was passionately opposed to cruelty to animals, and he was prepared to put time and effort into
changing the things that needed to be changed. He
was a believer in decency, honesty and fair play, and he was always an adherent to those high standards in which he believed..... None of us can remember Peter without a smile, a
smile of affection, of remembered jokes and remembered conversations, of pleasure in shared successes. But above all
a smile of loving remembrance of Peter the endearing, clever, funny man, the generous friend in need, the modest and remarkable
man that he was."Christine Harris - "He was such a talented and caring person, who was always
there to help. His work in the field has helped push our cause forward immeasurably."Graham Forsyth - " His line in A Minority Pastime that
still rings so true to me and I am sure to many others was; "I just want this cruelty to stop and stop in my lifetime."Denise Ward - "He was so valued and will be so
missed. I first met him when I went to his house to film him for 'A Minority Pastime'. His scene is one people always
remember. His measured and ironical remarks after he is dragged around and battered on the head till the blood poured down
make the point so beautifully.... Peter defined courage and rightness in a a uniquely clever, modest and reasonable way...
and made the world a better place by being in it."Rodney Hale
- "The planet is surely a better place owing to the contribution Peter made towards the welfare of wild animals
and they have lost a true friend." Alan Kirby - "Peter was a close POWA Associate
of mine for 13 years. We lived far apart and I met him only a few times, but we were in regular email and phone
contact. He was calm, kind, ever obliging, with a wry sense of humour and unshakeable determination. The very best sort
of Englishman. POWA and the persecuted animals he strove to defend will miss him dreadfully."

"WHEN CRIMINALS CIRCUMVENT THE LAW ITSHOULD BE STRENGTHENED TO STOP
THEM NOT REPEALED TO REWARD THEM"

ReadPOWA'sstatement on the High Court Ruling in 2009 on the Hunting
ActThis confirmed that 'intent' to hunt a wild mammal must be proved
and that 'searching' is not 'hunting'. The CPS dropped nearly all their pending cases as the
evidential burden was now too great.These cases included charges against the Huntsman of the Heythrop FH - the home
hunt of David Cameron, who has ridden with them in the past. It is widely supported by the famed 'Chipping Norton
set', including Rebekah Brooks and husband Charlie, who are known to be friends of the P.M.Press Release

POWA♥Hounds OffDespite the Hunting Act, hunters
and their dogs are still running amok and intimidating law-abiding folk, trespassing on private property. New
siteHounds Off is encouraging a countrywide network of hunt-free zones, creating an ever-growing land area where wildlife
has sanctuary. UseHounds Off to help you ban your homestead to hunters, wherever it is. SupportHounds Offon FacebookHounds Off has issued
a Progress Report

Hare
being coursed at the notorious Waterloo Cup

The Hunting Act has succeeded in stopping organised coursing events

LATEST POWA PRESS LETTER16Th February 2015

POWA wrote
to nnewspapers stating that, 10 years after the Hunting Act came into force, many Hunts are still engaging in wilful live
quarry hunting.and that the Act desperately needs to be strengthened to stop them.See POWA press letters

LATEST POWA PRESS RELEASE

12th July 2015POWA Press released to selected local, national and regional press informing
them that a young Grafton FH supporter had been cautioned by police for making an abusive phone call to female hunt monitor.

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